Using Orbiter on Linux

[LinuxWannabe]

Hi everyone again,
As my name suggests, I’m planning to migrate over to Linux sometime soon, (mostly for security and privacy reasons) and all of the software that I use and my hardware seem to be compatible with the distro I’m planning to use (Zorin OS 18), except for Orbiter. I know there’s a few methods and even a native version of Orbiter, but what is the most stable, least buggy and intensive way of using Orbiter 2016/2024 with Linux? Is it using it with WINE? Or using the experimental Linux fork? Or another method?

Due to being new to Orbiter and compiling (I understand the basics of compiling), it would be great if the methods were beginner friendly, or could be explained in a beginner friendly way.

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[johnnymanly]

Wine is the best. You should just need to install June 2010 DX9 runtimes (with wine) and it will run.
You may or may not need fonts. Either MS core fonts or maybe webfonts provided by your distro.

 

[JDat]

I am running Orbiter on Lubuntu 24.04 using Wine. Mostly for addon testings instead of full gameplay. It works out of box using build-in Orbiter graphics. No luck yet with DX9 yet, but I think this is my laziness and my fault. Long story short: Orbiter work on Linux using Wine.

 

[Kyle_E]

I've been running DX9 fine with DXVK and Proton. The easiest way to do that is using something like Lutris as a launcher.

 

[Boxx]

did anybody try to build a Docker container for Orbiter?

 

[GeometryPrime]

Hello! Just joined with the hopes of trying to get either Orbiter 2016 Beta R90 or Orbiter 2024 running on Linux - end goal is to run NASSP - Project Apollo, and those are the builds it can make use of. Has anyone had any luck with either of those versions?

 

[LinuxWannabe]

Another question (lots of unanswered questions )

How stable is the Linux branch maintained by @Gondos?

 

[Matias Saibene]

Another question (lots of unanswered questions )

How stable is the Linux branch maintained by @Gondos?

It's quite stable, and some of us have even made some add-ons for OrbiterLinux. I enjoy it quite a lot.

Regarding Orbiter on Wine, I made a guide on how to install it with PlayOnLinux. I'll try it with Lutris soon.
https://www.orbiter-forum.com/threads/how-to-orbiter-running-in-linux-via-wine-playonlinux.40699/

 

[LinuxWannabe]

Not a wannabe anymore

 

[xionx]

I'm a bit confused.
(I never tried to install Orbiter 2016).
Did anyone made an official Linux build so it can be used without wine?
I can't find any is it because of DirectX? Would there be a workaround for this?

 

[LinuxWannabe]

Dude, love your pics!

And yes, there is an experimental build by @Gondos:

G

Thread 'Linux playground'

May 8, 2022

Hi,
I just pushed a linux branch to github in case some people are interested.
To use it, you'll need to extract an official Orbiter2016.zip in e.g. ~/orbiter_test/Orbiter then compile the linux version :

git clone https://github.com/TheGondos/orbiter.git
cd orbiter/
git checkout linux
git submodule update --init --recursive
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$HOME/orbiter_test ..
time make -j$(nproc) install

It requires dev packages for GLFW3.3, glm, libsndfile and OpenAL to build (and maybe some more but I don't quite remember...).
Once done you can start Orbiter ...

• Gondos
• Replies: 464
• Forum: Orbiter Development

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Personally I would recommend using the stable windows version under Lutris or Heroic for mod compatibility, works just fine for me on my Zorin OS 18 install.